Numbers alone do not validate the value of the services provided by Community Healthlink, Inc. They do, however, offer testimony to the services needed by people who are victims of mental illness and addiction and those who are homeless or victims of abuse and neglect.

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about 1 in 5 adults - suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year and 5.4 percent of American adults have a serious mental illness.

Five percent of children ages 9 to 17 have a serious emotional disturbance due to a mental illness.

We also know Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of alcohol and drug use by adolescents and teens of any state in the nation.

Of added concern are those people who need help but often can’t afford the help that is available. It’s estimated 45 million Americans have no health insurance.

Community Healthlink, Inc. makes a difference.

More than 17,000 men, women and children receive treatment, housing and support services annually from Community Healthlink, Inc’s team of clinicians, healthcare workers and para-professionals.

Three-quarters of the people we counsel are adults, 22 percent are children and teens. More than 3200 of our clients this past year were seniors.

Community Healthlink Inc.’s outpatient mental health clinics in Worcester, Clinton, Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner, as well as the Homeless Outreach & Advocacy Project (HOAP), provide “free care” to several hundred uninsured people each year.

Community Healthlink, Inc’s Homeless Outreach & Advocacy Project (HOAP) and Lipton’s Emergency Services provide help annually to more than 3000 adults who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless.

Community Healthlink, Inc. serves every city and town in Central Massachusetts. More than one-third (5514) of its clients last year resided in Worcester. A significant number (3808) resided to the north in Fitchburg and Leominster, while 111 lived to the south in Webster, 153 lived to the east in Westborough, and 121 lived to the west in Spencer and the Brookfields.